


Divergence at the Crossroads of Destiny

by SailorHaumea



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e20 The Crossroads of Destiny, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22731034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorHaumea/pseuds/SailorHaumea
Summary: A different what-if of "what if Zuko joined the Gaang at the end of Book 2", but with the twist that it's canon ships.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), One-Sided Toph Beifong/Sokka
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. The Crossroads of Destiny (Aang POV)

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently there are very, very few Avatar AUs that have a POD in The Crossroads of Destiny that aren't Zutara fics. So I decided to do one with canon ships, just because.

'Azula may be too much for me alone, but working with Katara, I think I'm going to beat her. Wait, Zuko's back! Did his uncle convince him to help us or will he join Azula against us? I wonder what he'll choose,' Aang thought

Zuko launched a blast of fire at Azula, and Aang spared a smile.

The moment was broken by Katara's scream, and then Dai Li agents swarmed around them.

Aang earthbended a protective crystal shell around himself, and entered the Avatar State.

He could feel the cosmic energy.

And then his body felt like it was on fire, and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thoughts that Aang has at the beginning of this chapter are verbatim taken from the book The Tale of Aang, part of the Earth Kingdom Chronicles book series. Honestly, the writing in the series is really cheesy. But eh, it gives us internal thoughts from Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko, and Azula, so I'm not complaining.


	2. The World Without the Avatar, Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night that the group flees Ba Sing Se on Appa, they get to know Zuko.

"Is he going to be alright?" the Earth King questioned, glancing at the unconscious Avatar who was currently talking about a "Princess Yue" in his sleep.

"I don't know, I did the best I could, but..." Katara sighed. "I don't think he's entirely with us, so to speak."

Toph frowned. "Mind putting that in terms that actually make sense?"

The waterbender glared at the blind girl. "I think he's unable to wake up right now. Something is preventing him from doing so."

Zuko groaned in exasperation. "So the Avatar is out of commission for the time being, Ba Sing Se has fallen, and the Earth Kingdom doesn't have any strongholds left besides, what, Gaoling?"

Katara glared at the banished Prince. "You're not helping, you know that, right?"

Zuko stared at her, clearly taking offense to that. "Excuse me? I've sacrificed everything to help you guys!"

The tan girl went quiet at that for a few seconds. "I'm sorry."

Zuko opted to move away from Katara to sit next to her brother.

Sokka desperately wracked his mind for a way to initiate a conversation with his new ally. "So...," he finally began. "My first girlfriend turned into the moon."

The Prince stared at him for a moment, at a loss for what to say. Finally, he responded with "That's rough, buddy."

The Water Tribe warrior blinked. "D-did you just make a joke?" Then his expression turned to one of his interest. "You know, we barely know anything about you, Zuko. Do you have a girlfriend back home or something? Do you have any cousins? Why did you spend so much time chasing us? Why did you decide to help us tonight?"

Zuko sighed. "Are you really asking for my life story right now?"

The Earth King chimed in at that moment. "I mostly know about the Fire Nation from books, so I'm personally very interested in your life."

The exile sighed. "Fine. I am Zuko, formerly the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, son of Fire Lord Ozai and Princess Consort Ursa, grandson of Fire Lord Azulon, great-grandson of Fire Lord Sozin-"

The Earth King interrupted him at that moment. "Hang on, I think you skipped a generation there. The books I read all said that Azulon was Sozin's grandson, and that his father was Fire Lord Jinbu."

Zuko looked at him in disbelief. "No, there was no Fire Lord Jinbu. Azulon was Sozin's eldest son."

Kuei shook his head. "While the books I read didn't mention the war, they did have meticulous record of the Fire Lords to the present day. In fact, Long Feng did inform me whenever a member of the Fire Nation Royal Family died, although I suspect he was lying about some details."

Zuko cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, I remember you writing a letter of condolences to my father when Grandfather died! Everyone in the Palace found it humorous."

The monarch looked upset. "I was just being thoughtful, I didn't know that we are at war. Actually, that does explain why I never received a reply."

Sokka interrupted them. "Uhh, Zuko, you were telling us your life story?"

"Oh, right. I was born on the twenty-third day of the ninth month of the eighty-third year following Sozin's Comet, the Year of the Rabbit."

"You're sixteen?!" Katara interjected.

The prince stared at her in bewilderment. "...Yes?"

"I thought you were younger," the Water Tribeswoman clarified.

Zuko sighed. "Okay, I'll continue the life story some other time."

"Aww, Zuko, come on!" Sokka groaned.

"No, I need sleep," Zuko growled, and then soon fell asleep laying on Appa's fur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you're wondering, Aang is dreaming about the events in the web game Escape from the Spirit World. Basically, he's reconnecting with his past lives one by one, and that's what he's mumbling about.
> 
> Also, a bit of slight modification to the Fire Nation royal family - I made it so that official histories in the Fire Nation deliberately gloss over a Fire Lord between Sozin and Azulon for propaganda purposes.
> 
> Lastly, the Gaang actually gets to hear a bit of Zuko's life story, even if it is only the bare basics. I did trim the chapter a bit from my initial draft - originally, Zuko continued his story until Ursa left, then stopped, but I decided that the memory of the last day with Ursa is probably too personal for him to share at this point.


	3. The World Without the Avatar, Day 2 (1) (Azula POV)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azula assesses what happened.

Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation, usually would have been elated about her current position - that of sitting in the Earth King's throne.

After all, everything had gone almost perfectly. The Earth King had been deposed, Ba Sing Se had been conquered, she had commandeered the Dai Li and now had an elite force of earthbenders at her beck and call, her traitorous uncle was going back to the Fire Nation in chains, and the Avatar was dead.

But as was often the case, almost wasn't good enough. Her brother had opted to side with the Avatar and his companions rather than join her, and the group had escaped with the Avatar's body.

She scowled.

Of course, Ty Lee chose that moment to enter the throne room. "What's wrong, Azula? Your aura is so grey."

The princess let out a sigh. "It's nothing, Ty Lee. I'm just thinking about my brother's betrayal."

It actually did hurt, to some extent. Zuko had gone against his nation, against his father, and against her.

What had gone wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, I know, but confession: I'm typing this up in a format where I can't do line breaks. Once I'm able to reformat it, I'll merge the shorter chapters that are intended to be "scenes" into larger chapters.


End file.
